"I have crazy news for you, Chocho," I say upon settling in the canteen with Chocho. She wonders why I am such in a haste and with such kind of intonation, a very shocked and excited tone.
"What's going on?" she asks and puts the tray on the table.
"You won't believe what I'm going to tell you," I say in a low voice someone else might hear me say it.
"Come on, tell me already," she is curious now.
"I found out that the jerk is Mr. Martin's son," the anxiety in my voice shows when I speak those words. Chocho's jaw drops and stretches her eyes wide open.
"You're joking, right?" I shake my head to refuse and she cups her face in shock.
"Even I was shocked when I found out. Mr. Martin is so nice and cool and is a perfect father figure. The jerk must be adopted," I tell her and she laughs at my statement. She unconsciously grabs the burger from the plate and opens the wrapper and grabs a bite.
"You're so cruel," she says while munching on her snack.
"What? Mr. Martin is lovely and that jerk is a knucklehead," my voice raises and I suddenly cover my mouth. I forgot we're in the cafeteria.
"Well, children sometimes don't acquire the parents' behavior," she says and I think that's the best explanation to why that jerk is a jerk.
"Yeah, you're right," I agree and she takes another bite from her burger and I take a sip from my orange juice.
"So, how did your discussion with him go?" she asks about what happened last Saturday.
"We only discussed two subjects. He dropped the rest of them," I say and she raises her brows in astonishment.
"Why?" she cluelessly asks and sips on her juice.
"He was acting strange, to be honest, and he called Literature boring. Add that he did not complain nor threaten me with my letter and take advantage of me," I sigh still wondering why he acted that way.
"I keep convincing myself that it was because that day was his late mom's birthday," I add, and Chocho's brows furrow.
"Late mom? You mean..." I did not tell her about it.
"His mom died a few years ago," I confirm her doubt and she sighs and her face saddens.
"He must be so sad," she murmurs feeling sorry for him.
"Don't you think it's the reason why he is acting the way he is now?" she continues. Hmm. It can be.
"What bothers me more is he called Mr. Martin a stupid old man and he was upset very quickly every time I mention his name," I add and she starts to wonder as well.
"That Kawaki is a mystery. Don't you think?" she asks. With all honesty, he is. Nobody knows him. He doesn't have friends and he doesn't talk much.
"He said, he does not talk to his dad. I wonder why he dislikes him I can tell though. The way his face turns mad when I asked him to get me an autograph from him. The way his tone of speaking changed erratically, there's something wrong," I tell her, and she gives me a not-so-sure face.
"So, what are you planning to do now?" she asks me. I don't know what exactly I am going to do. I shrug and take a bite of my burger. We finish our snack and return to class.
After our Literature class, I follow the jerk. I want to talk to him about the tutorial. He keeps walking to... Well, I don't know where he is going to by the way. I startle when he stops and turns his head. I gulp and sticky sweats on my forehead. I didn't rehearse what I must talk to him.
"What do you want?" he coldly asks. I clear my throat before talking.
"I just want to ask if you still want to discuss the remaining subjects except for the P.E. of course," I say and he raises his brow.
"I told you to forget about them," he says and turns to walk off again but I stop him...
"And by the way..." I utter and he pauses.
"What?" he scoffs not looking at me.
"About my request..." I feeble. He did not move nor make a sound. But what surprises me is when he turns to face me.
"What request?" he asks twitching his brows.
"An autograph from your dad," I say head-on without hesitations.
"Tch, as I said I won't do it. If you like, you can personally ask him," he says and aims to walk off once again but I speak to him again trying to keep him in his position.
"It's convenient if you ask him you know. He is your dad. He might not entertain me if I come to meet and ask him about it. He will not say no to y-" he cuts me off.
"I said I will not do it. Don't be stubborn," he raises his voice. He seems very upset about the matter.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you acting weird recently?" I retaliate. His face slightly turns red of disgust.
"Just stop it already. You're annoying," he says in a calm voice. His attitude is sickening. He is selfish, grumpy, and a bastard.
"You know what? You are a light year away from your dad. He is nice, kind, and respectable, and look at you, you are a jerk," I yell at him. I'm so full of his rudeness.
"Shut up, you know nothing. That stupid old man is nice, kind, and respectable you say? You are funny," he laughs at me.
"What's funny about my statement?" I growl and he scoffs.
"That stupid old man is not what you think he is in real life. He is an actor for a reason. He is fake and I hate him," the conviction in his words terrifies me.
"How could you...? I don't believe you. Stop accusing him of nonsense," I reject his judgment on Mr. Martin. I don't believe him. I looked up to Mr. Martin since I was young. He reminds me of my dad so much that's why I admire him. It's hard to believe what he is saying against him. I never heard of any bad news about him for all these years.
I just can't imagine that these bad comments will come from his son. This is unbelievable.
"I am not forcing you to believe me. You can dumbly admire that stupid old man all you want," he says and completely walks off.
"You idiot! I will prove you wrong. Mark my word!" I shout at him but he ignores me. How could he badmouth his father?
He is the worst.
Classroom
Everyone settles down when our adviser gets inside and stands in front of us while crossing her arms.
"All right, tomorrow is your pre-final examination. Are you ready?" she starts. I look around and observe my classmates. They are making indistinct noise somewhat like unenthusiastic sounds.
"I think I'll break my head reviewing," I hear Iwabe complain and everyone laughs at him.
"You better study your lessons well because one more exam left and probably all of you will graduate soon unless some will repeat the senior high," she says smiling at us. Yeah, our graduation is fast approaching.
"But before that, the school's anniversary is coming in three days. This is when you can relax after your brain-wracking pre-final examination," she continues and everyone's energy is somehow restored.
The School Anniversary is something like the School Festival occasion. There are different activities, booths, events, and many more. What makes it different from the latter is that this occasion is open to all even to outsiders or students from other schools. This is the time of the year when you can meet new people or be friends with others. And to tell you, our play is scheduled for this day too. Where I got the lead role. The one I am dreaming of for a long time.
"For the meantime, study your lessons and I wish you all luck for tomorrow," she says and leaves the classroom.
"Exams are a headache," Chocho says and slouches on her desk.
"You'll be fine believe me," I smile awkwardly at her. She sighs and buries her face on the table.
Suddenly, the picture of me and the jerk debating the other day flashbacks in my mind.
"Just you wait jerk, I'll prove you wrong about Mr. Martin," I murmur to myself.
"Sarada, let's go to the club together, okay?" Sumire wakes me from spacing out.
"Yeah," I stutter when I say it. She smiles at me and waves goodbye.
I need to focus on the exam and forget about some nonsense around me for a while.
You can do it, Sarada!
"Are you okay?" Sumire taps my shoulder and I turn to face her. Once again, I space out. I gently slap my cheeks with my palms to wake myself up from daydreaming. I notice that she is astounded for a while by my sudden action.
"I'm sorry. I was thinking about something. Don't worry I'm fine," I smile to assure her. She smiles back at me and gets back to her work.
"Focus everyone. The School Anniversary is in three days, you better give your all now," our adviser reminds us. I think she is referring to me because I was spacing out sometimes.
I take a deep breath and clear my mind. I need to focus on the most important things. Our practice resumes and I try to ignore the nuisance in my head.
"You did a great job Sarada," our adviser compliments me after the practice and I have to guess that my cheeks flush on her comment.
"You are very ready for the play. Good job," the club President adds to the fire.
"Thank you," that's all I can say. Sumire greets me with a smile and I smile back at her. The dusk is approaching and we need to hurry and go home.
What a day!
"Close your notes and textbooks because we are about to start your pre-final examination," our adviser orders and we all hide the books and notes under our desks.
She starts disseminating the test papers and when she says 'Start' we begin reading and answering the questions.
The first half is composed of four subjects. One hour is the allowable time to answer per subject. I glance at the jerk and he seems not struggling to answer the questions at all. Honestly, it scares me because there is a high possibility he will fail some of the subjects. Knowing that he hates Literature and English.
"So glad I survived the first half!" Chocho rejoices as we walk to the cafeteria. My mind is engrossed with things I can't figure out myself.
"Are you okay?" Chocho asks when we settle down.
"Yeah," I reply and she looks suspiciously at me.
"You look disturbed and preoccupied," she hits the target, bullseye!
"My mind is kind of messy right now," I tell her and she pouts in front of me.
"Hey, it can affect your results you know. Focus on the exam first and mind your problems later," she suggests and I think she is right. I nod as an answer to her.
"I already have plans for our Christmas vacation," she says enthusiastically. Seriously? It's like two weeks from now and she got plans already.
"Like what?" I say trying to make her enumerate her to-do list on our Christmas vacation.
"Like going to a movie theater, shopping, eating, and boys hunting," she chuckles and bites on her snack.
"Oh..." I mutter. I don't know if I'll be happy about it. I still have nothing in mind about what to do during the one week off from school.
"You should come with me and relax," she offers but I think I'm not coming with her.
The bell rings and we return to the class for the second half of the examination.
After four hours, the bell rings and our adviser counts from one to ten. All the test papers must be passed on the desk on or before the count is finished.
"Your results will be out tomorrow. You can relax now. Goodbye," she says and takes all the papers, and walks off the room.
Some of my classmates stretch their arms like a long pain on their backs has been lifted. Even Chocho does the same.
"Thank goodness. I can resume watching my favorite drama series tonight," Chocho joyously utter and I smile at her.
"I think I will sleep early today. My head hurts a little," I say and she looks at me with worried eyes.
"You seem stressed," she notices and I nod. A lot of things happened recently and I think I need a break.
"Your results are out! The ranking is posted on the school board. You can check on them later after the class," our adviser announces. My classmates start buzzing inside the room.
"I just want to mention that Kawaki did great in the exams. Thank you for your efforts, Sarada," she compliments him and shows her gratitude towards me. I just smile and I don't know what was his reaction.
We went to the school boards to see the ranking. A lot of students are searching for their names too.
"Sarada, still in number one!" Chocho reveals to me and I look at the ranking. Wait, Boruto ranks down at the second spot with Denki. What happened?
"But, Boruto..." Chocho murmurs and looks at me.
"Yeah, I doubt what happened," I responded to her. This is the first time Boruto ranks down to the second spot. Ever since Boruto and I always tie in the first spot. I wonder if what's wrong with him.
Boruto did not come closer to the board and he walks away instead. I bet he already knew. Chocho and I look at each other.
Boruto...
To be continued...
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